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MTG players often enjoy tribe-based tactics — who has not constructed an elf deck once or twice? — and this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set is reintroducing 2 well-known mechanics which align perfectly with the setting.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

The initial ability, known as "Allies," first introduced with a Zendikar set which grants boosts each time additional permanents with the Ally type enter the battlefield.

Alternatively, "Shrines" represents another enchantment subtype that originated with Kamigawa. Although not creature-based tribe, these enchantments likewise gain power as a player has additional Shrines in play.

A Return of the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have appeared here and there in recent releases, the Ally subtype was seldom seen — until this changes in ATLA, in which the feature gets central.

The protagonist Aang has to recruit a lot of friends on the quest to restore peace to the world, so it's no better method to reflect that in an Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Exclusive Card Preview

After its first set reveal, here is a look of an Allies plus one Shrine cards from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender set.

Teo: The Fan-Favorite Figure

Teo is a beloved supporting figure in ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom who lived at the Northern Air Temple following his home was destroyed in a flood, an event that rendered him unable to walk.

Because of his dad's prowess in mechanics, Teo is able to soar through the skies with his glider, and dares Aang in a flying contest.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider represents Teo's love of the skies and the Earth Tribe's use of flying machines by letting the player loot each time a player attacks with an airborne unit, while also boosting your creatures with +1/+1 counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine

Speaking of Teo's home, this is represented as a card named The Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total upon coming into the battlefield, based on how many Shrine cards you have.

The card also removes one more life whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

This appears to be an impactful card, considering the card's low mana cost and good enter the battlefield effect.

A big weakness for Shrine decks in formats besides EDH is the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple can be great when paired with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which deals damage to every opponent during the start of your turn.

The Timely Crossover

At a time while Universes Beyond products have been garnering significant hate by the community, a beloved franchise such as Avatar could be precisely what MTG needs.

Spoiler season is already here, and all cards will be released on Nov. 21.